My Joke Cryptocurrency Hit $2 Billion and Something Is Very Wrong

I feel it is shortsighted to mistake this explosive growth as being sustainable — in fact, I feel 2017 was arguably the worst year for cryptocurrencies yet. To understand why, let’s revisit what I learned from the currency I created as a joke.

RUBBISH!

The DA the Police Chief and the Mayor have endorsed the notion that you abandon your privacy when you set your trash out on the curb. So we figured they wouldn’t mind too much if we took a peek at theirs. Boy, were we wrong

Why dolphins are deep thinkers

Dolphins can also use tools to solve problems. Scientists have observed a dolphin coaxing a reluctant moray eel out of its crevice by killing a scorpion fish and using its spiny body to poke at the eel.

A video game that doesn’t click until you let go of the controller — and your need to win

It turns out that you — the named person you consider yourself, with hands and a brainful of electricity, the individual who profoundly wants absolute control over this existence and moreover to win — is utterly dispensable. In fact, the game plays better when you’re not running it.

New Zealand creates special refugee visa for Pacific islanders affected by climate change

As some Pacific countries prepare to relocate entire communities, New Zealand’s newly-elected Labor-led coalition government has become the first country in the world to introduce a climate refugee scheme.

Google’s Latest Search: What Happened to Its Bikes?

Google built a massive business organizing the world’s information, but it’s struggling to keep track of the bikes it provides for employees to get around its giant headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. Local residents tend to ride off with them.

Who Owns Aokigahara?

Japan is a prop in these videos, and in the case of Logan Paul, sadly, Japan’s very serious problem with suicide was a prop. For the past year I’ve been doing research on media representations of Aokigahara inside and outside Japan…

The case for defeating death

We’re taught that death is natural and that trying to escape it is wishful lunacy. However, these researchers have made tangible discoveries. They’ve published studies in highly respected journals and attracted serious amounts of funding. When they say it’s possible to live longer, and maybe forever, it’s tempting to believe them.

Productivity is dangerous

I often see shit like, “Ten Habits I Have QUIT to Get More Done,” and I think, “Maybe quit writing posts like this.” If you’re waking up at 4 a.m. to write 1,000 words about how you write 1,000 words every day, what are you actually getting done? Just stay in bed.

Seeing Through Big Tobacco’s Smokescreen – Project Syndicate – Medium

Legal setbacks in the US have forced the tobacco industry to concede that its products are harmful, and that for decades cigarette producers deliberately misled the public about the health effects of smoking. But these “corrective statements” do not mean that the war with the industry is over.

Let it go: The Arctic will never be frozen again

The editorial meeting of the future

“In the future, we’ll instead organize the editorial meeting around this all-important question: “What can we help the public understand or do today?” We won’t start with our ideas — we’ll start with the information gaps the public demonstrates they have, and focus our efforts squarely on filling those gaps.”

We are sleepwalking toward war with North Korea

But here’s the genuinely scary thing. Numerous conversations with US policymakers, former US government officials, and experts all point to one disturbing conclusion: Far from being unthinkable, a war with North Korea is becoming more likely by the day.